


Next Year's Christmas Party

by TheBasilRathbone



Category: The Office (UK)
Genre: Christmas Party, F/M, One Year Later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 16:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10666059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBasilRathbone/pseuds/TheBasilRathbone
Summary: The next year's Christmas party is vastly different. Perhaps not on the surface. David is still telling terribly inappropriate jokes. Gareth is still patrolling the office like he expects chaos could break loose at any second. Dawn is still late, missing the company dinner and arriving with the party in full swing. However, this year, she doesn't wait until the end of the night to seek out a kiss.





	Next Year's Christmas Party

The next year's Christmas party is vastly different. 

Perhaps, on the surface, it's not that different. David is still making inappropriate jokes as much and as loudly as he's able, though why he's actually there is anybody's guess. Gareth is patrolling the office, Anne is pregnant yet again, and still as obnoxious and unfiltered as she was last year. Dawn is still late, missing the company meal and only arriving once the party (and drinking) is in full swing. 

But some things have changed. Dawn doesn't wait all night before seeking Tim out and wrapping her arms around him. In fact, as soon as she sheds her coat she goes to his side. And this year's kiss isn't hesitant or incredulous. It's an easy, natural greeting, as though they've done it a million times (they have). She kisses his cheek and he turns, leaning down to kiss her properly as she hugs him around the waist. 

"How did the meeting go?" he asks, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and breaking from his previous conversation with the warehouse workers. 

Dawn smiles shyly. "They want me to do the cover, and then if that turns out well, I might get commissioned for a whole series."

"That's brilliant, Dawn!" She's pulled into his arms, a kiss planted on the top of her head. 

"It's just a cover of a novel. It's not a full book or anything." 

"The cover's the best bit, anyways. That's the part everyone sees at the bookstore. You're officially a professional illustrator." Tim says that bit loudly like he always does when he's boasting of her achievements. 

A round of half-hearted congratulations comes from the group, and while Dawn quietly thanks them and ducks her head to hide her blush, Tim's chest puffs out in pride. 

"You don't need to look  _so_ pleased yourself, you know," she informs him, fighting back a smile. 

Tim shrugs, leaning casually into her side. "Um, you painted it with the paint set I bought you, so basically I'm taking credit for it, yeah. Would've just been a blank piece of paper without those paints."

"So now that I've got a paying job beyond 'part-time receptionist' and can help fund those night courses, does that mean I also become a psychologist when you do?" 

"Don't know if it works like that. But tell you what, I promise I'll give you as much free therapy as you'd like."

"Now that I'm back working here with Gareth, I'll need all the psychological help I can get."

They break into giggles, curling into each other to try and smother their laughter before David comes sniffing around, always hating to be left out of a joke.

Tim wipes at his eyes. "Speaking of which, I plan on getting sloshed tonight. I'm a Uni student, after all." 

Dawn tilts her head up to press a kiss under his jaw, and Tim once again beams with pride. She tries not to think about Lee, it isn't fair, but sometimes she can't help but wonder. Wonder if there was ever a time that Lee looked so chuffed to be kissed by her in public. 

She hasn't spoken to Lee since the Christmas party last year, but their parents were still close, and last she'd heard, he was still in Florida, still unemployed, and still living with his sister. 

Not that they could really judge, she supposes, though they do. They've been living together for three months, crammed into a tiny shoebox flat. Money is tight, very tight, but it's a place of their own, without any parents in at least a four-block radius. So it's something. 

Not to say life is perfect. Money is, of course, very tight, and having lived with his mother for thirty-three years, Tim's ability to cook or clean up after himself is limited at best. And after years of living with Lee, Dawn was in need of learning how to communicate, because she'd never had to do much of it before. Tim expected more of her, needed more from her, but also gave her infinitely more than Lee ever had. It was an adjustment. 

Tim's attention is now back on the warehouse guys, but his arm is still wrapped around her waist, thumb brushing absentmindedly along her side. 

"So?" she asks. "What did I miss?"

Tim gives a short, breathy laugh. "Um, well. Let's see. We've been talking about finances. More specifically, Glynn's been leading a discussion on how much he'd have to pay certain people at the office to get their tits out."

"How 'bout it?" Glynn slurs, nodding in her direction. "Fifty quid?"

Tim doesn't hesitate, pulling away just enough so he can make a show of undoing the buttons of his shirt. "Alright. But just so you know, I would've gotten 'em out for twenty-five." 

Dawn takes the opportunity to slip away to find the other part-time receptionist to chat with. A few years ago, she would have sought out the camera crew to have a chat with, as they'd always been professional but kind. But the lack of cameras still makes things eerily quiet from time to time, without David and Gareth playing up for the crew. She's glad that every conversation and unflattering moment of her life isn't at risk of being broadcast across the nation, but after the mess of the last few years, she sometimes wishes they would do another follow-up. Just so she could show that she'd stopped being such a fool, that she'd finally gotten her act together, was illustrating, was with a guy who treated her well. 

The last episode aired six months after the Christmas party last year. She'd gone over to Tim's house to watch it with his family, and things had been a bit tense. Dawn had squeezed his hand in apology when her conversation in Florida aired, still guilty about brushing him off as a topic she couldn't care to discuss. Tim's grandmother had cackled at her own joke, relayed by Tim, about Dawn's 'correct' decision to choose Lee, as she 'wouldn't kick him out of bed.' Dawn had just leaned into Tim's side in front of his family, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You can have him," she'd told Tim's grandmother. "Remind me later, I'll give you his number in Florida."

It's well into the party when Tim finds her again, coming up behind her and resting his chin on her shoulder, waiting until her conversation with the new receptionist lulls before asking, "Ready to get out of here?"

"They're just about to do Secret Santa," she points out. "Can't we stay for a bit longer? Twenty minutes?"

Tim makes a show of hemming and hawing, before relenting. He always relents, in the end. "Well I suppose another twenty minutes can't hurt, can it? Shall I grab you another drink? Amy?" With a nod, he's off again, grabbing a beer for both her and the new receptionist, and himself of course, before they all wander over to the Secret Santa box. Dawn gets a candle, and Tim gets an army Ken doll, which Gareth adamantly denies re-gifting. 

At the end of the night, he helps her into her coat, and they walk hand in hand the twelve blocks it takes them to get to their flat. They brush their teeth, undress, and crawl into bed beside each other as they do every night. Instinctively, without thought, they reach for each other in the dark, Tim burying his fingers into her hair, kissing her over and over and over. 

"I really am so proud of you, Dawn, did I tell you? The book cover... It's brilliant," he says breathlessly, grinning down at her. "You've been...quiet, tonight. You alright?"

"Just thinking about last year's Christmas party. How much has changed," she confessed. 

"Yeah, you're a professional illustrator."

"I'm happy." The words come out before Dawn can stop them, but it doesn't make them any less accurate. "I'm just sorry it took so long. We could have had this years ago."

"A shoebox-sized flat and student debt?" he asks with a smile. "I hate to blow my own horn, but you're a lucky woman. I'm quite a catch. Who'd want a doctor or a lawyer when you could have a paper salesman and night student?"

"I'm just in it for the money. You'll be a psychologist eventually. After that we'll get married." 

Tim giggles. "Joke's on you. That'll take years. You're stuck with the Wernham Hogg guy for the foreseeable future."

"Well," she sighs, stroking his hair. "At least I have the Christmas parties to look forward to."

**Author's Note:**

> Because there's not enough Tim/Dawn love out there.


End file.
